Bodies of victims are being autopsied in Frankfort FAMILIES ARE ASKED TO PROVIDE DENTAL RECORDS

The bodies of all 49 crash victims have been taken to the state central laboratory in Frankfort for autopsies and identification.

By 8:30 p.m. last night, when the work was ending for the night, the initial autopsies had been performed on 16 to 17 bodies, said Stacy Floden, spokeswoman for the state Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

She said the autopsies would continue at 7:30 this morning.

Floden said initial examinations involve trying to find some identification, such as wallets, on the bodies.

She did not know how long it would take to co

mplete all the autopsies, but she noted that the first bodies were received at the state lab about 4:15 p.m. yesterday, and that the initial work was done in about four hours.

She said Drs. Emily Craig and Tracey Corey, both with the state Medical Examiner's Office, were at the crash scene and not at the lab.

She said the bodies of all 49 victims would be stored overnight in three refrigerated trucks from Nicholasville, and that there would be security at the lab around the clock for them.

She said the autopsy work in Frankfort includes work by dentists, fingerprint experts, forensic scientists and various coroners in Kentucky.

She said about 20 volunteers are helping in Frankfort.

Floden said she did not know the official cause of death or how long the work would take.

An update on the handling of the bodies will be given at a 10 a.m. news briefing today outside the state lab, she said.

Six coroners worked the scene, Floden said. Fifteen to 20 medical examiners from throughout the state volunteered to help yesterday in Frankfort.

She said officials are asking victims' families for dental records.